A packet-based network employing a mobility management protocol, e.g., Mobile IP, allows mobile node users to move between networks while maintaining a permanent IP address, thereby enabling mobile node users to maintain transport layer connections, and higher-layer connections, even as mobile node users change their point-of-connection to the packet-based network. Thus, a mobile network employing a mobility management protocol such as Mobile IP enables a mobile node (MN) to maintain transport and higher-layer connections with one or more host devices available on the mobile network. For a packet-based network employing Mobile IP, mobility management for mobile node users is provided using Home Agents (HAs), Foreign Agents (FAs), and other mobility management capabilities.
In existing networks employing Mobile IP, packets originating from a host device (HD) that are intended for a MN are routed to an HA of the MN, and the HA tunnels the packets to the intended MN directly, or indirectly using an FA of the MN. Disadvantageously, since packets sent from the host to the MN are required to traverse the HA, the route taken by the packets from the host to the MN is typically not optimal (i.e., there is typically a better route between the host and the MN; however, the HA is not part of the better route and, thus, the better route cannot be used). Furthermore, where reverse forwarding via the HA is dictated by policy or choice, and is used to send packets from the MN to the host (as opposed to direct forwarding from the FA to the host), the route taken by the packets from the MN to the host is also typically not optimal (since packets sent in the reverse direction will also be required to traverse the HA).